US Army scrambles to clean Walter Reed

The poor conditions of the Army medical center will be the subject of hearings in Congress this week.

from the March 5, 2007 edition

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"I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to the outpatient care at Walter Reed," Secretary Gates said in a briefing last Friday. "Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems."

Following Gates' remarks, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, a physician, would be named as the permanent commander of the hospital. General Schoomaker's older brother, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, is the Army's chief of staff. Another flag officer who is not a physician is expected to be named to the hospital's command structure to ensure someone without a medical background can keep an eye on the improvements, according to a Washington Post report Sunday.

Weightman's side of the story may emerge during the hearings. This may include the information that he did in fact listen to internal warnings last year about problems with staffing.

The Army released a statement Saturday that indicated Weightman had responded to those internal warnings from Army Col. Peter Garibaldi, the Walter Reed garrison commander. Colonel Garibaldi had warned that "patient care services are at risk of mission failure" due to a privatization effort that left the hospital short-staffed. According to media reports, Garibaldi said that Weightman had addressed each of three issues raised.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D) of California, who leads the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the Garibaldi memo raises "a new dimension to the problems at Walter Reed."

The problems at Walter Reed could be symbolic of the kind of neglect that many lawmakers believe exists across the military. Funding for a war that costs up to $7 billion per month has strapped resources that normally would be spent elsewhere.

Rep. John Murtha (D) of Pennsylvania, a respected Marine veteran who is pushing to bring troops home, asserted Sunday that the problems at Walter Reed have occurred because war costs have trumped so many other needs.

"It happened because the resources are so much in Iraq. They've spent so much money that they've ignored the very thing that is so important to our troops at home," Representative Murtha said on "Meet the Press."

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